'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎285v] (573/862)

440 IRRIGATION, AGRICULTURE, AND MINOR INDUSTRY
controlled canal system described above, is similarly tapped by
numerous small channels.
(4) The creek system of the Shatt al Arab. Here a fresh method of
irrigation exists. Tidal action twice daily drives fresh water into the
large number of cuts and creeks leading off the channel, which form
a dense network of waterways often only 12 yards from one another.
Problems of silting arise, and the creeks are cleaned either by dredg
ing machine or by hand labour, and non-return gates are sometimes
installed. Tidal action extends over 100 miles upstream and affects
about 112,000 acres through 70 major creeks.
Irrigation by Lift
The use of water-lifting machinery, either oil pumps or primitive
apparatus, may be found along any river, canal, or creek; but there
are two regions where it is of special importance: (1) along the Tigris
from Mosul downstream to Kut, and (2) along the Euphrates from
the Syrian frontier downstream to Musaiyib. There was a remarkable
increase between 1918 and 1930 in the number of oil pumps installed,
particularly along the Tigris above and below Baghdad. A consider
able expansion of riverain cultivation took place, mainly on the lands
of shepherd tribes, and both townsmen and tribal shaikhs invested
much money in pumps. A law of 1926 stimulated this increase by
the remission of taxation for four consecutive seasons to farmers
using pressure pumps, as did the cheapness of fuel oil. But the lack
of technical knowledge and of mechanical ability caused many set
backs, and the fall of agricultural prices in 1930 ruined many pump
owners. The fellahin Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. sub-tenants of the pump owners also proved
unwilling to grow the more remunerative industrial crops which
would enable the pump owner to make large profits. By 1934 the
number of oil pumps had recovered from the crisis and continued
to increase. In 1937 out of 2,467 pumps (Table IV, p. 477) over half
were along the Tigris in Baghdad and Kut provinces, and one-
quarter on the main river and canals of the middle and upper
Euphrates. A fair number are also employed on the creeks of the
Shatt al Arab. The average power of the pumps was then 30 h.p.,
but they range from about 10 h.p., a type common on the Shatt al
Arab, to 65 h.p. on the upper Tigris in Mosul province, where a
powerful type is necessary because the height of lift is much greater.
The lift varies from 6 feet on the lower Tigris to 40 feet at
Baghdad, and is proportionately more farther north.
Apart from oil-driven pumps several traditional types of bucket